


This is a Christmas Movie? Part 2

by MzMarbles



Category: Being Human (UK)
Genre: Gen, More mindless holiday fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 12:36:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9072034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MzMarbles/pseuds/MzMarbles
Summary: Happy Christmas dear readers.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [This is a Christmas movie?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5556758) by [MzMarbles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MzMarbles/pseuds/MzMarbles). 



This year would be different. Not just because Allison was visiting. This year Hal acquired the holiday movies and there was not a hint of violence in any of them. He had cartoon classics, he had claymation television specials, he had black and white movies. And all of them were proper, holiday appropriate movies. He couldn’t promise that he would be able to stay awake as long as anyone else, but at least the films would be peaceful and tasteful for the season.

He hadn’t bothered to tell Alex any of this until late afternoon on Christmas Eve. Before she could find any movies on her own. He had legitimately acquired these movies this time with his own library card. It was the only piece of ID he had that did not require a photo.

He didn’t bother to hide his sly smile while Alex riffled through the pile and did not find even one action movie. 

“Hal, you do realize that most of these are from a time before I was born.” she said.

He lost his smile. Alex frequently liked to remind him of the significant age gap between how old they appeared to be and how old they really were. 

“I am aware,” he said. “And no, please do not pop out to pick up Die Hard again, it’s hardly appropriate.”

“I know you don’t think it’s a Christmas movie, but Tom and I like it. And you don’t even have Home Alone in this pile. Think of the disappointment on Tom’s face.”

“What could I be disappointed about?” Tom said emerging from the kitchen with bowls of snacks both healthy and not. “This is going to be the best holiday yet.”

Allison followed with a platters of vegetables and cheeses and tiny sausages. “I’ve never been more excited to lose a night of quality sleep before.”

“Hal didn’t get Home Alone _or_ either of the Die Hard movies,” Alex said and Tom actually pouted. 

“But those aren’t really very cheery, are they?” Allison said and placed the platter on the middle of the coffee table. “I mean they are ostensibly Christmas movies in that they take place at this time of year, and I could make the argument for Home Alone obviously, but Die hard is just an action movie that takes place during the holiday season. Aside from defeating terrorists there’s nothing festive or cheerful about it.” 

Tom just smiled and looked adoringly at Allison and Hal smiled, finally vindicated. Alex was speechless. 

“Fine,” Alex said and threw her hands up in the air. “At least let me go and get Home Alone, for Tom’s sake. He likes that one, don’t you Tom?”

“Yeah, I do like that one,” he said a bit sad. “But it’s alright. We watched it last time and the library’s closed now.”

“That’s never stopped me before,” Alex said. “And I’ll have it back where it belongs before the library opens again Hal, I promise.”

Hal deflated slightly and shook his head. “Go on then, I can hardly stop you.”

Alex squeaked slightly and kissed Hal on the cheek before disappearing before him. Tom and Allison both pretended they hadn’t witnessed it. By the time Hal had brought out the last of their feast —cookies he had baked that morning— and  the furniture had been arranged for optimal viewing (with a promise that Hal could set it all back exactly as it was on Christmas Day) Alex had returned proudly holding out a DVD case for Home Alone. 

Tom had returned from upstairs with an arm full of blankets and had begun to make a nest on the white sofa for himself and Allison. Hal opened the first case and put How the Grinch Stole Christmas into the player. It was the one he was most looking forward to, though he would never admit it out loud. He settled into the corner of the sofa that he had claimed for himself. Alex had once again removed her boots and was sporting last year’s, now worn out, Christmas present. She wore them as often as possible and the heels were almost gone her toe stuck out of one of them. She had a pillow and thick blanket in her hands and tossed the pillow onto Hal’s lap and made herself comfortable under the blanket. 

“Everyone ready?” Alex asked, remote in hand. 

Allison’s head just peeked out from the blanket wrapped around herself and Tom, her curls bounced when she nodded. It was bound to be a long night. When Allison had learned of this new holiday tradition she was keen to stay up as late as possible. Her competitive streak was no secret. And she was competing with a ghost who didn’t sleep at all.

With everyone else’s eyes fixed on the screen no one noticed the smile on Hal’s face. He didn’t like the program for its message or the songs or because he could relate to the Grinch, but because it reminded him of Leo and Pearl. It was a simple cartoon, and yet it brought them joy with enough to spare for Hal. There was some satisfaction that it had been absorbed into a new holiday tradition. 

Outside it had long gone dark, and snow had begun to fall and blow about in the wind. By the time they had made their way halfway through A Charlie Brown Christmas, Hal had to admit his feet had got cold and a blanket of his own would be welcome. Between specials there was a call for a washroom break and Hal rearranged himself on the sofa to take better advantage of the duvet that Alex was huddled under. When Allison returned to the lounge she didn’t bother to refrain from making a satisfied noise of approval that Hal had tucked himself under a blanket with Alex. 

“That’s very cosy, Hal. I bet you’ll fall asleep first like that,” she said.

“I’m not competing in the slightest,” he said fluffing and rearranging his pillow. “But remember that Alex can’t sleep and I don’t need to sleep nearly as much as the two of you.”

“Not competing,” Tom said around a mouthful of cheese and cracker. “Yeah right, Hal.”

“Not in the least,” Hal said and turned back to the television to hide his smirk. Alex had levitated another classic into the player and scooted further under her blanket as a third holiday special began: Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. Hal had done his research, he had found as many classic specials as he could and a few movies as well, it would be enough to carry them through until sunrise assuming anyone but Alex made it that far. Hal had made sure he was well rested. He had put extra effort into his routines and he was confident that he could outlast Tom at the very least. 

By the time they had moved onto their first feature film of the night all of the cookies had disappeared into one of the two werewolves in the blanket cocoon behind Hal and most of the cheese too. Hal had been sure to hide the rest of the cookies away in the kitchen with a tin of Quality Street. This feast would have to tide them over until a proper Christmas dinner was started tomorrow. Hal was well aware of how much one werewolf could eat in one sitting. He thought he had over prepared for two of them. It might turn out he was wrong. 

White Christmas had kept Hal awake and alert. It was by no means Gilbert and Sullivan, but he found he had rather liked it. Alex had groaned through it and reverted to calling him ShowTunes for the remainder of the movie. 

“Please tell me that was the last musical we have to watch, ShowTunes,” Alex said as the credits rolled. And for the first time it occurred to Hal that he had hijacked her holiday tradition and played only movies and specials that he thought were appropriate. Alex was not enjoying herself and Tom was looking  very sleepy indeed under his pile of bedding and midnight was approaching.

“Very well, then. Best to put on Home Alone before Tom falls asleep. Wouldn’t want him to miss it.”

“Thanks, Hal,” was the muttered reply from the blankets behind him. 

Hal started to doze part way through and shifted on the sofa under Alex to get more comfortable. It wasn’t as though he hated the movie, he thought Kevin McAllister was rather clever. It was just not what he wanted to watch. He almost felt bad for having dictated what films they would have to sit through and let himself drift off, let the others enjoy their film. He wasn’t competing after all.

Hal was the first to fall asleep.

“Tom,” Alex whispered. She looked over to the bundled werewolf and levitated the next film in front of him so he could see it properly. Alex had cheated and tucked copies of Die Hard and Die Hard 2 into the same case with Home alone. After a series of complicated facial expressions it was decided that Die Hard would be the next film. They hoped Hal would not wake, and he did not. Not until partway through the sequel. 

“What on earth is this?” he said.

“Well shit,” Alex said. “I was hoping you’d sleep through this one too. Though I’m not sure how you managed to pull that off in the first place.”

“I did manage to sleep during the Blitz, Alex. Though this is far more obnoxious. Is this that other Die Hard movie?”

“It is. Now shush or go back to sleep Mr. I Can Sleep Through A Bombardment. It’s almost over anyhow.”

Hal looked at the clock it was approaching 4 am now and he wondered just how much of this marathon he had missed. There was not too subtle snoring coming from a pile of blankets and pillows on the white sofa behind him. He excused himself to the washroom. He had awoken rather hungry and not for any of the bounty that was left on the table. The bloody violence he found in front of him on the television hadn’t helped much. 

He splashed a bit of cold water on his face and did a quick 100 press ups before heading back down the stairs to rejoin his small chosen family. He was relieved to find that either the movie had ended or Alex had switched out the film to something more palatable. There were still several movies to choose from since the Die Hard movies had skewed the timing he had set for the marathon. 

He settled himself back under the blanket and draped his arm over Alex’s middle. 

“I’m sorry I took over your holiday tradition,” he said. “I thought I had made good choices.”

“Your heart was in the right place, Hal. Next year how about we all contribute to the list, hmm?”

“That’s probably best,” he said. “The sun won’t be up for a couple more hours at least, are you still interested in what’s left?”

Alex floated the two remaining DVDs in front of her, A Miracle on 34th St and Elf. She craned her neck to see Hal and the tired look in his eyes. She put in the former movie and would save Elf for last as the sun came up. As the old black and white movie went on even she began to feel like she might drift off to sleep, though she knew it wasn’t possible. She could tell that Hal, tucked in behind her, had already gone back to sleep so she closed her eyes a moment and tried to enjoy the evening. 

The wind was still blowing steadily out side and she listened to it whistle through the eaves of the house. She pulled the blanket up just a bit closer. Hal’s arm was now just dead weight across her belly, but as the letters started to roll in to the court house on the screen before her she felt him squeeze just a bit tighter. 

The house had been so quiet and it would be a little while yet before sunrise. She didn’t have the heart to put Elf into the player just yet, so she found the remote and managed to find a channel showing just a fire place. She chuckled at the cheesiness of it and thought it fully justified since they had never used the fireplace in the lounge at all. 

She had timed the marathon just right, however. As the sun came up she slowly raised the volume until Buddy the elf screaming about Santa woke everyone from their slumber. Alex laughed, Hal looked stunned. Tom just pulled his blanket over his and Allison’s head and tried to go back to sleep.

“Okay so no one wants to open the presents under the tree?” Alex said and paused the movie. “Come on guys I’ll even make tea. I suppose I owe you that much.”

“Five more minutes,” Allison said from the depths of the cocoon she was wrapped in. 

Alex rent-a-ghosted out from under the blanket to the kitchen to start making tea. The duvet had kept its shape where she had just been, Hal pulled it up to his chin. He had not stayed up all night, but what sleep he got was just barely enough. A look out the window revealed it was impossibly still snowing. Hal continued to watch Elf somewhat bleary eyed until tea arrived. Tom had already emerged from his blanket to obtain Christmas crackers one for Allison and one for Hal.

Tom had lost the larger half to Allison, but won in his pull with Hal. He donned his blue paper crown with pride. Allison had some trouble fitting her yellow crown over her curls which had grown unwieldily while she slept. 

“Into the crackers already Tom, you don’t waste any time do you?” Alex said and plucked one from the box. She held it out to Hal daring him to pull the other end which he did and lost yet again. She placed a green crown on her head at a jaunty angle. 

“Come on Hal this one has to be your lucky cracker,” Alex said picking up another one and shaking at him. “And you need a crown. Go on, give it a tug.”

Hal pulled and lost a third time, he laughed. Alex insisted it didn’t matter anyway and put the orange crown on his head. Tom was sitting by the tree now, once again shaking the boxes to try to guess at what was in them. 

“Here you are Alex, technically you won,” Tom said holding out a box.

“That’s not fair, Tom I’ll always win at this game,” she took the box anyway. 

Tom handed out gifts to Hal and Allison as well and then returned to his seat with his own gift, the tag proclaimed that it was from everyone in the room just as they all did, especially Alex’s package. She tore into the wrapping and the box and found a new pair of slippers and warm socks with ghosts stitched into the pattern.

“Aw thanks guys,” she said pulling off the worn out slippers and rolled the socks on carefully and then put each foot into a slipper. 

“Allison picked out the socks,” Tom said. 

“I couldn’t resist,” Allison said and giggled and stopped suddenly. “I hope that’s not offensive.”

“If it means not having to wear those boots all day, I will put anything on my feet. They’re perfect, thanks Allison.”

Tom tore into the paper around his gift and tossed it aside. The novelty of gifts actually wrapped in festive paper hadn’t even come close to wearing off. Inside he found an update on Mosi from the Conservation Trust for Wolves thanking him for the continued donation in his name, and a warm knit sweater and matching mitts. He put the sweater on right away. It was the kind of sweater found in the various clippings tacked on Tom’s bedroom wall.

“This is great, thanks,” he said and pulled Allison into a warm hug while she unwrapped her gift.

Like Hal she carefully pulled at each end trying to save the paper from being shredded. She opened the box to find two pendants, one of a wolf howling and a pair of scales, both attached to a charm bracelet. Tom helped with the clasp around her wrist. She kissed his cheek and he blushed.

“Open yours Hal,” Alex said. 

Hal pulled carefully at the tape and wouldn’t be goaded into tearing the wrapping off like he had last year. He took extra care just to get Alex’s eyes to roll at him. With the paper carefully removed he found a model kit for building a ship inside a bottle, the HMS Victory to be precise. The illustration on the front of the box looked elaborate, it boasted about the difficulty level and how many hours it should take to complete. It would require a great deal of concentration and care and a steady hand. He would happily spend several hours working on this. Hal smiled, his friends knew him well after all.

“Is that not _the_ perfect gift for you, Hal?” Alex asked and plunked herself down on the sofa next to him. 

“I’d have to agree, yes. It’s very thoughtful,” Hal said glossing over the basic instructions. “Thank you everyone. Now I’ve resisted tidying up and putting everything where it belongs all night. So if you wouldn’t mind?”

“Right,” Tom said getting up. “Let’s see about brekkie then.”

Tom disappeared into the kitchen with Allison and Alex and Hal surveyed the mess. Picked over food crumbs and blankets strewn about. He smiled and started to fold the blankets.


End file.
